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North Bay police have charged a pair of out-of-town scammers after four victims in two separate households had received scam calls of a similar nature.
"The scammers claimed to be family or friends of the victims and stated that they had recently been arrested and needed money for bail," said police spokesman David Woolley. "The two accused attended both households, posing as couriers, to retrieve the money."
The scammers went to the residence of the first household and took approximately $9,500 from the victims. After interacting with the visitors, the victims became suspicious and contacted the North Bay Police Service.
The second household contacted the police after getting a call from the scammers. When they attended the home, officers arrested them.
On August 24, two men were charged with fraud.
A search by police located approximately $9,300 in cash, which was returned to the victims.
The victims and accused are not known to one another.
The accused in this incident are:
Allen Bates, 45, of Oshawa is charged with:
- Two counts of fraud over $5,000
- Possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000
Eric Lamanque, 45, of Montreal is charged with:
- Two counts of fraud over $5,000
- Possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000
Both were held pending a bail hearing at the North Bay Courthouse.
If you receive a call you believe to be a scam, do not engage with the scammer and hang up say police. If someone claims to be a member of a police service and you believe they are attempting to scam you, request a badge number and contact the police service to verify the information.
You can educate yourself and your loved ones to spot potential scams by using the resources available from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and learn about the most common scams and how to avoid them by reading the Little Black Book of Scams.
